Remember when I lost 50 pounds?

I have been eating so badly this week that I am fully expecting to gain back the .2 (and then some) that is keeping me above my 50 pound loss! Save me!!!!

I lost 50 pounds with Weight Watchers!

Reaching a 50 pound loss on Wednesday night was very anti-climactic! My regular leader wasn't there, my friends weren't there, and only a few of the "regulars" were in attendance. So, it was a very blah celebration. I left the meeting skipping, very excited, but without my regular celebratory group. It has taken a few days to sink in. But now I am starting to think, "HOLY SHIT I LOST 50 POUNDS ON WEIGHT WATCHERS."

So, what made this work for me?

1. Over the past few months, a definite mindset change occured. I know the plan works. I have to trust it and follow it. If I don't follow the plan, I only have myself to blame. It takes a lot to stop making other excuses and realize the real problem is ME and the choices I make.

2. There will always be bad days, weeks, months, hours. One of the biggest problems with people on diets is the thought that "oh, I had a bad morning, so screw the rest of the day" or "I know i won't lose weight this week, so I'll just forget the diet for now." There is always going to be a party, or a barbecue, or a 12-pack of light beer in the fridge, or a chocolate cake, or a pack of oreos from a neighbor.....and we are most of the time going to screw up now and then. But that's OK. It's taken a while for me to accept this. You make a mistake? IT'S OK. We are human. Start over right now!

3. Friends and family. A good support system is necessary. Avoid the negative people. Avoid the people who badmouth Weight Watchers! Share your successes and your challenges with them. Help them help you!

What now?
I am still 16 pounds from goal weight. I wanted to make it by my birthday....which is 2 months away. I know this is DO-able...but not probable. If I look at my weight loss lately, we are looking at a pound or less each week. To lose 16 pounds in 8 weeks I need to lose 2 pounds a week...and this is with a beach trip and a TRIP TO HAWAII all before my birthday. Hm. I am going to try - no giving up! - but I am going to be realistic.

The Half Marathon I signed up for in November. I have an internal panic attack almost daily about this.

Another before and after. The first picture is the day we brought Char home from the hospital. OK, I know, I had just a baby, but good lord. The second picture is from just now. :)

Weigh-in Wednesday

Loss: -0.8
Total loss: -50.2
Feeling: Awesome!!!!!

I finally hit the 50 pound mark! I missed the entire meeting, but got there just in time to weigh in, turn around and share my celebration, get my little keyring for my keychain, and boogie out the door. Yippee!!!

Wednesday Weigh-In

Loss: -0.8
Total loss: -49.4
Feeling: Nervous!

Tonight's meeting was about how to choose wisely at summer barbecues and what the challenges are. My biggest BBQ challenge is baked beans. Damn, they are good! A half a cup is 5 points, and I can't eat just a half a cup. On Sunday we had a delicious barbecue with shrimp and chicken kabobs, zucchini, fresh fruit, roasted potato salad and corn on the cob. Would have been very weight watchers friendly if it weren't for the beer!

My Charberry

Oh, my sweet Charbaby!!! I uploaded a bunch of phone pics today and thought I'd share a bunch of cute Charlotte pics. :) First up, her crazy-long hair! Look at this!!!! This is right after I brushed it, and I was amazed at how long it is!!!

Then here she is on the deck, cheesin':

Here is one of Charlotte eating ice cream at the local spray-ground. She won't let me pull up her bathing suit half the time because the boys don't wear shirts. 

"Where Charwotte go?"

Eating celery at BW3:

 Another shirtless fountain day:
















Me and Char, being goofy:

Charlotte, earning her nickname "Grandma Estelle" because she is last at the table every meal. :)

Me in high school

A friend just posted this picture on facebook of me in a HS drama production.
A la Jack Sh*t Gettin' Fit, my version of "The Way We Were" (youtube link here to Babs)

Memories, light the corners of my thighs.
Misty watercolor memories of the weight we were.
Scattered pictures of the pounds on our behinds
pounds we gained with one another!
Look at the weight we were.

Can it be that it was all so simple then or has the USDA rewritten every line?
If we had the chance to eat it all again tell me would we? Could we?

Memories, may be super skinny and yet...what's too healthy to remember...we simply choose to forget

So it's the weight we will remember...whenever we remember...the weight we were.

MPM 7

Monday - hot dogs, chips, fruit, pasta salad (we never had this last week....)

Tuesday - Big salads with chicken

Wednesday - FFYS

Thursday - taco salad

Friday - taco salad pasta

Saturday - pizza

Sunday - steak on the grill, quinoa, a fresh veggie of some kind, fruit salad.

Top Ten Reasons I am not a Stay-at-Home-Mom

10. I need at least 30 minutes of "planning" time every morning at my desk/kitchen table uninterupted to check facebook, my google reader, my email, and drink coffee. 2 weeks into summer and I have to get up at least 22 times each morning to get stuff - like juice, waffles, empty cups, banana peels, and other extremely inconvienient items that these kids keep asking for. (Whose kids are these people anyway!?) This morning they even asked me for BREAKFAST! The NERVE!!!!

9. I don't have enough money to stay at home AND send them to daycare.

8. I can't manage my time well. For example, each day at 4:45 I madly run around the house picking up breakfast plates, markers, paper, crafts, diapers, pajamas, 1/4 full cups of water, bathing suits, towels, toys, books, and bowls of cheeze-its. This is because Todd will be home soon and I don't want him to know what a slob I am. No, wait, he already knows. Well, I try to make the problem seem not quite so bad before he gets home. A good stay-at-home-mom would use her time more wisely and clean up as the day goes on. When Todd is home with the kids he cleans up as he goes, does 5 loads of laundry, picks up the dog shit, and plays with the kids!!

7. I don't really want to play with the kids all the time. I'd rather meet up with a friend and let them play/fight/yell/laugh while we drink beer and eat animal crackers.

6. I sometimes say "no" when they ask me to read them a story.

5. I let them watch "Despicable Me" and "Shrek Forever After" instead of taking an actual nap (although, I dare any of you to come over here and get twin 4 year old boys to nap in their beds. You might have success 1/5 days. Big deal.)

4. It's only been 2 weeks of summer and I am actually looking forward to going back to work.

3. The 4:00-6:00 hour is pure torture. No naps and high heat and general pissyness causes Todd to walk into an explosive situation every day. I feel badly that I am always about to lose my shit when he gets home, but god dammit, kids, can you just TAKE. A. NAP!? Or go play downstairs? Do you really need to be all up in my shit all day long and then get all screamy and mad at me when I tell you that we can't go to the pool in the middle of the thunderstorm or go play tennis in the 105 degree heat? Also? Can we avoid the temper tantrum at 5:00 every day when you are asked to leave someone's house/share a toy/get off your brother/clean up your mess/put back the oatmeal? Because these tantrums and the things you say are making me CRAZY! Today, Henry told me that he didn't want a mommy anymore and yesterday he told me he was "done with me." Owen repeatedly tells me I am going to jail and that I am a "meaniac." Don't get me wrong - the other 22 hours of the day are awesome. But the 2 hours in the late afternoon when they are exhausted, hungry, hot, and generally pissed off should actually count as the 120 reasons I am not a stay-at-home-mom - 1 for every minute of this time period each day. Phew.

2. I like Starbucks and wouldn't be able to get a nonfat vanilla latte if I didn't receive Starbucks gift cards from my students/coworkers.

1. And finally... it's too hard!!! I know, there is an endless debate about whose life is harder - the working mom or the stay-at-home mom?? I'll tell you what. The working mom of children between the ages of 2 and 5 has it easy. After that and before that - it's a toss up. Staying home with the boys when they were 1 was awesome and easy and fun. But now? Hard. Summer with kids older than 5? Going to be awesome. I think this summer is just a weird paradox of a 2 year old mommy-obsessed girl combined with twin 4 year olds that "don't need a nap" anymore and a mom that enjoys napping and drinking coffee. Yes, that's what I'm going with as my excuse for when they cart me away to my own special room with soft walls and people wearing white.....

(I just hope they leave me alone for my 30 minutes of planning time in the morning.)

Wednesday Weigh-In

And the result......
Loss: Bupkis!
Total loss: -48.6
Feeling: Phew!
I gave up alcohol this week (cheated once) and replaced it with ice cream sandwiches. I didn't gain, so that's good. I'm drinking a light beer now. Ahhhhhh...

Kickin' it

Creating a "bucket list." Lame? Not lame? Jinx-worthy? (Like, if I create a bucket list for myself is that just asking a bus to run my ass over?) I have some good ideas for my own list and I've been reading a lot of other people's lists, too. If I were going to not jinx myself and create a list of things I'd like to do here are some of my ideas:

1. Finish the damn t-shirt quilt that I started when I was pregnant with the boys.
2. Learn how to use grandma's sewing machine and sew some stuff!
3. Spend an entire summer on a beach somewhere.
4. Go to Africa.
5. Finish my bucket list.

MPM 6

Last night we made a yummy meal of grilled shrimp marinated with garlic powder and lime juice along with some quinoa with jalapeno cheese and black beans (it was ok) and fruit. I had planned on eating the leftovers tonight over salad, but the power went out and it was hot as butt in our house. So....

Monday - Applebee's
Tuesday - shrimp leftovers over salad greens
Wednesday - FFYS
Thursday - Pasta night (make a double batch for pasta salad the next day)
Friday - Hot dogs, pasta salad, fruit, and chips
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday  - Chicken and polenta on the grill, corn on the cob